Boat



Sept. 3, 1929. 5, MAY 1,726,962

BOAT

Filed July 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Sept. 3, 1929. B. MAY1,726,962

BOAT

Filed July 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 XKJJNQENTOR mdzlb Patented Sept. 3,1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS 18. MAY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOAT.

Application filed iuly 9, 1927. Serial No. 204,592.

The present invention relates broadly to the art of marine propulsion,and more particularly 'to' an improved hull construction for vessels andto improved propelling means co-operating therewith.

It has heretofore been proposed, in the art to which the presentinvention relates, to effect the propulsion of boats by the provision ofchannels extending partly or entirely through the hull thereof andadapted to effect the discharge of a stream or streams of water in suchmanner as to produce a forward, rearward, flanking or turning movement.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improvedconstruction operating on the general principle referred to andpreferably embodying a plurality'of flow passages occupying a minimumamount of room and located entirely in the forward part of the hull. Thepassages are conveniently so constructed that they intersect to form achamber common to both of the passages, the chamber being provided withcontrol means of such nature that a flow of water may be producedthrough either of the passages individually' or through both of thepassages simultaneously with any desired variation in volume of flowfrom minimum to maximum, the flow itself being produced by separate flowproducing means located in the respective passages. By reason of'such aconstruction, both of the flow producing means are effectivesimultaneouslyfor flanking or turning, thereby enabling results to beobtained which have heretofore not been obtainable with otherconstructions.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown, by way of illustrationonly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it beingunderstood that the drawings do not define the limits of my invention aschanges in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made withoutdeparting either from the spirit of the invention or the scopeof mybroader claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal horizontal sectional view,partly broken away, of one form of the structure embodying the presentinvention; 2

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation illustrating the guards for the flowpassages;

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line V-V of Fig.1.

In carrying out the present invention, there may be provided a boat hull2 of any desired general construction and contour depending upon the useto which the boat is to be put. The forepart 3 of the hull is a specialconstruction of such nature as to accommodate the means of propulsion inaccordance with the present invention. The forepart is preferablyprovided with a pair of flow passages 4: and 5, respectively, havingindividual inlets 6 and 7 and individual discharge outlets 8 and 9. Atsome point intermediate their lengths, the passages preferably intersectto provide a chamber 10 common to both forwardly and rearwardlyextending passages and of such cross sectional contour, as indicatedmore particularly in Fig. 4, as to accommodate a control means 11.

Located in the passage 1 is a flow producing means 12 preferablyadjacent the inlet 6, and adapted to be driven in any desired .manner,as, for example, by a motor 13. The

passage 5 is provided with a similar flow producing means 14 with itsdriving motor 15. It will be understood that separate driving motors, asherein shown, may be utilized, or that a single driving motor withsuitable gearing, as well understood in the art, may be substituted.

With the construction illustrated, assuming that it is desired to movethe vessel for wardly in the direction indicated by the arrow A in. Fig.1, the flow producing means 12 and 14 will be rotated in such directionas to produce a water flow through the passages 4 and 5 in the directionindicated b the arrows (1. If it is desired to advance t- 'e vessel in astraight line, theicontrol means will be placed in the posltionindicated fulllinesin Fig. 1, whereby .eachflow producing means willeifecta dischar eof waterifrqm; its respective outletgj Initi jlysuchflow be in a general outward and rearwarddirec- 131011, the outwardcomponents of the respective streams oifsetting one another, wherebypanied by a slight forward movement of the vessel which, undernormalcircumstances, is not ob ec'tionable. Where such a forward the vesselwill tend gradually to move for motion is objectionable, the control 11may be wardly. As the forward movement come" mences, there will be arelative movement of the water in which the vessel is travelling withrespect to the vessel, as indicated by the arrows B. The normaldischarge from the respective flow passages will be along the general.lines indicated by the arrows B". Thls will produce a resultant,indicated generally by the arrows b, the resultant being of graduallyincreasing effectiveness for propelling purposes as the speed of thevessel increases.

Inasmuch as the water for producing the propelling streamsis drawn fromthe region -immediately in front of the vessel, the resistance to forwad motion, such as ordinarily encountered with tow-boats which tend topile up the water on their bows, is minimized. Inaddition to this, thedischarge of water from the respective passages has been found in actualpractice to produce a How along the hull of such naturethat the skinfriction is materially reduced. The bow waves established by a boat ofthe construction herein stpeedsor above is rearwardly in the generalirection' indicated by the arrows 0, thereby clearing rearward dischargefrom the progellers imany barges which the vessel may have In tow. It iscustomary to secure barges by comparatively short lines directly to thestern of the boat. In such cases, the absence of any wake, such asproduced by the ordinary means of propulsion, assists materially in t eprogress of the tow through the water, experience having demonstratedthat with ordinary towboats, the wash from the tug as well as the pedesthe progress of the barges t rough the water.

If it is desired to reverse the direction of travel of the vesselwhile-maintaining a substantially straight-line movement thereof, it isonly necess'ar to reverse the direction of fitation-of the ow-producingmeans 12 and In many cases, where a vgssel has been warped into position.against a dock or the like, it is desirable in getting under way toproduce a'flanking movement of the vessel.

It may be assumed, for example, that it is desiredto produce suchflankin movement in the general direction indicate by the arrow inFig. 1. In such case the control means 11 will be moved into thedotted-line position f of this figure, whereby the combined flowproduced b both of the means 12 and 14 will be directe through thepassage 5 and theoutlet 9. Since, at this time, there is no for- .wardcoin onent of the vessel to be considered, the ischarge will beeffective for producing a relative flanking movement accommaintained inits full-line position of Fig. 1, the flow-producing means 14 operatedto produce adischarge through the outlet 9,

and the flow-producing means'12 operated in the reverse direction toproduce a discharge through the inlet 6, thereby counteracting thetendency of the craft to move forwardly. By controlling the relativespeeds of the individual flow-producing means, an exact component of thelateral or combined lateral and forward motion, or of combined lateraland rearward motion, canbe produced.

- The vessel also lends itself to turning as will be readily apparent bythose skilled in the art. By maintaining the control in its full-lineposition, and operating the flow-producingvmeans at the same relativespeeds,

but in opposite directions, the vessel may be tending the entirelength,or substantially the" entire length, of the hull. v,

It frequently happens with shallow draft vessels of the typepredominating on our inland rivers that a sand bar or other temporaryformation is encountered. In such cases the construction hereindisclosed may be utilized as a dredge, the flow of water into the flowpassages displacing the sand and discharging it,rearwardly andlaterally. In case the vessel is pulling a wide tow, the dredging actionmay he continued, accompanied with flanking movements of asulficient'extent to provide a passage of the width required for thevessel and its tow.

In' view of the location of the flow produc ing means 12 and 14, it isobviously necessary to provide suitable means for protecting the inlets6 and 7 against floating or su merged dbris. For this purpose, each ofthe inlets is protected by guards 16 all of which extend in the samegeneral direction as; is apparent from Fi s. 1 and 2. The

rearward inclination of t ese guards tend to throw such dbris outwardlyand toward the rear of the vessel, and the absence of an oppositelyextending guards permits suc'v movement. The inlets are thusautomatically cleaned to permit the free ingress or egress of water toor from the flow producmg means. r

In case of failure of one of the 'motors or of one of the propellersfrom any cause whatsoever, it is possible to navigate the vesselstraight ahead by placing the control in an intermediate position. Inchain lines in Fig. 1 the control is shown in the positionwhich it willoccupy in the' event themotor 15 or the propeller 14 is not suitable forcon tinued duty. In this position thecontinued operation of thepropeller 12 will produce a stream of water which will be dividedsubstantially equally by the control positioned as indicated in chainlines, thereby produc-- ing a substantially equal discharge from both ofthe discharge outlets'*8 and 9.

It will be understood that in case the shafts are positioned asindicated in the drawings, it will be necessary to provide the controlwith a recess 17 to permit movement thereof into its dotted-linepositions.

I have also found that desirable results will be obtained by theprovision of compartments 18 in the head of the vessel and preferably onopposite sides of the propelling means. Where such a construction isprovided, the vessel will be trimmed with these compartments empty.Thereafter when it becomes desirable to provide extra depth of water topermit free passage of a tow or of the vessel itself, suitable ballastmay be placed in the compartments. This will result in untrimming thevessel to the extent that the bow end will be lowered, therebypermitting the sand dredging action, before referred to, to be carriedon at a greater depth below the level of the water than would normallybe possible. In actual prac- -tice, water will probably be utilized asthe medium 'of obtaining the desired additional weight in the head endof the vessel. This may be conveniently pumped out in any suitablemanner when it is desired to retrim the vessel. I

' Certain advantages of the present invention arise from the provisionof a propelling means which may be utilized by itself or as an adjunctto standard methods of propul- SlOIl now in vogue.

Other advantages of the invention arise from the provision of propellingand steering means of the character herein contemplated including flowpassages located entirely in the forepart of the hull of the vessel orin an extension provided thereon.

Other advantages of the invention arise from the provison of separateflow passages with separate flow-producing means, the

. passages and flow producing means being of such nature as to permitall the water from both flow-producing means to be discharged .mentdesired.

entirely through one of the passages, equally through both of thepassages, or through the two passages in any desired relativeproportions depending upon the direction of move- Still furtheradvantages are inherent in independently the use of propelling means ofsuch nature that a bank of water in front of the vessel is obviated, theskin friction reduced, and a wake is created such that the resistance toforward travel of the tow is minimized.

Still further advantages arise from the use of a ropelling means of suchnature that it may Be utilized for effecting removal of temporaryobstructions such as sand bars and the like. i

I claim:

1. In a boat, a hull, a pair of similar'flow passages located entirelyin the forepart of said hull and provided with forwardly directed inletsand laterally and rearwardly directed outlets, a flow-producing means ineach of said passages, means for driving said flow-producing means inthe same or in opposite directions, and a single control common to saidflow-producing means, said control means being. operative to dischargethe means through one of 'said passages.

2. In a boat, two flow passages/intersect,-

ing at a point intermediate their ends to form a common chamber, fluidcontrol means in said chamber for effecting any desired division of flowthrough said passages from nothing to maximum in either direction, andvariable flow producing means in each passage.

3. In a boat, flow passages intersecting at a point intermediate theirends to form a common chamber, flow-producing means in each passage, andfluid control means in said chamber cooperating with said flow producingmeans to effect delivery of water to both of said flow-producing meansentirely through one of said passages or through both of said passagesin any proportion from minimum to maximum and to effect discharge fromboth of said flow producing means entirely through one of said passagesor through both of said passages in any amount from minimum to maximum.

4. The combination with a boat having two flow passages in the bowthereof intersecting at a point intermediate their ends to form a commonchamber. fluid control means in said chamber for effecting any desireddivision of flow through said passages from nothing to maximum in eitherdirection, and independently operable flow-producing means in eachpassage.

5. The combination with a boat having two flow passages in the bowthereof intersecting at a point intermediate their ends to form a commonchamber, fluid control means in said chamber for efit'ecting any desireddivision of flow through said passages from nothing to maximum in eitherdirection, and independently operable flow-producing means in eachpassage located forwardly of said chamber.

6. The combination with a boat having .two flow passages in the bowthereof intermeans for simultaneously operating said secting at apointintermediate their ends to flowroducing means either in the same or forma common chamber, fluid control means in di erent directions. 10 in saidchamber for effecting any desired In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset 6 division of flow through said passages from my hand.

nothing to maximum in either direction, v flow-producing means in eachpassage, and v LOUIS" B. MAY.

